Son Of The Devil
by SeltzerBaby
Summary: Eight children have been chosen to defeat the Three Prime Evils once and for all. The Archangel Marysael will make sure of it. There is a problem though-one of the children is Diablo's son. So maybe, just maybe, blood will prove thicker than water.
1. Prolouge: Marysael Comes

Dear Diary,

Today I killed my first monster. I was sleeping, but I woke to the sound of fighting under my window. Benedette was out there fighting off some zombies, but one was going to get her from behind. So I took the staff I had stole and burnt the zombie. She was very proud of me. She said that even though I am only four, I will be a great Sorceress hero one day. I think I would like to be a hero.

From,

Savata Evasion Doragon

"Darling…Darling, wake up." There was a soft voice whispering in my ear. "Savata, wake up."

I opened my sleep riddled eyes, and saw a woman with long white hair and a pure shining aura around her. Her presence was one of calm serenity. I did not know who this woman was, but instinctively, I trusted her.

"Who are you?" I heard my voice, young and lilting, and saw her peer into my eyes, seemingly into my very soul.

"I am Marysael. I am an Archangel. You must come with me." She held out her hand. Sitting up under the soft woven covers, my wild, deep red hair rumpled, my golden eyes only half open, I reach up to her. Smiling, she takes my small, four year old hand in hers. Warmth rushes over me, and a sense of love and protection I've never felt before. I smile up at her.

"You may not know it yet…" She pauses, her words frozen like honey on her lips "But you are much more important than anyone here will ever realize." She smiles once more, and then kneels in front of me. My eyes widen in the face of such ethereal beauty. "But I know just how important you are." She taps me gently on the nose "Do you want to be a hero, Savata?" I nod, as the prospect of fighting has been dancing across my dreams for the past month or so.

"Of course you do, darling. It is running through your blood, it is etched all across your face…" She strokes my cheek with a motherly affection. "You and the other seven…so difficult, so trying…" Lost in her musings for a small while, her eyes grow distant, those whitened orbs of loveliness dim. "I never knew there could be so many destinies for such small children." Coming back to the real world, she takes my other hand. "I do hope you will come with me." Standing up, she walks to the window, bringing me with her.

"Are you coming, my darling Savata?" I nod, and she smiles a warm, loving smile. "I may be like a mother to you, if you wish…" Then she whisks me out the window, and we disappear into the cold winter air. I have only one final thought before I am lost in the ecstasy of flying with an Archangel.

I never did know my mother. Maybe this woman can help me replace the four short years I lost to a world of lies.


	2. Chapter 1: Heart Of Ice

Disclaimer-I do not own Diablo, or any of the quests or people aside from the ones i made up. Blizzard owns them

* * *

_**{Four Years Later}**_

"Savata, get your lazy bum up! We have got a test in _ten minutes!_ Marysael said that if you are late, you are going to fail and you are going to have to take it again!" The voice resounding through my head was high and playful, filled with a girly confidence.

"Alright, alright, I'm up, I'm up!" I was dragged out of bed by a strong pair of eight year old arms. Finally opening my eyes, I saw Amith standing over me, hands on her hips. Her gold blonde hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and her crimson eyes looked down on me in mock disapproval. Turning, she grabbed a purple training dress from my chair and threw it on my face. Whipping it off and glaring, I heard my door swish open and a third voice entered our groggy conversation.

Already dressed and ready, with her black hair straight and her violet eyes curious was Ivalis, mine and Amith's Assassin friend.

"I suppose Savata is going to be late?" Coldly amused, she raised an eyebrow at my bedraggled form. I groaned, and pulled myself upright. Struggling into my clothes and pulling a comb through my hair, I was finally yanked out the door and down the marble hallway.

Walking down the hallway, we turned the right corner and were joined by a silver haired, black eyed Necromanceress. This was Natairi. As we neared the huge expanse of a courtyard, our chatter slowed and we separated. Even though we were friends, and would cover for one another to no end, this schooling with Marysael brought an icy coldness to each of our hearts that would turn us into enemies.

The door swung open as we neared. Sitting on her high-backed gilded chair was Marysael, still glimmering with that angelic light. A small smile alit on her face as she saw us approach, and she began to give out instructions. As we were not of the same ancestry or class, I suppose you could call it, our tests would not be alike. Marysael took our schooling very seriously, as we had come to notice. We were proving today that we knew how to fight with the weapons of our choice. She had told us a while ago that, even though she would tell us what they were, she would not teach us how to execute the skills significant to our class. Those we would have to learn ourselves.

I sit calmly, watching Amith, Ivalis and Natairi go before me. All are highly adept with their own singular weapons. The dummies are shaped as men, drawn to scale and drawn correctly. Marysael says this is to ready us for real fighting.

"You will not be fighting creatures that look soft and innocent. Many will look human. Many will not. You must be prepared for whatever or whoever comes after you." She told us that a while ago. Even though we are only eight, we know that we must learn to be brave in the face of death itself. We are special, more important than all the rest of our people, living their lives as normal beings. We are meant for something more. That is why Marysael took us when we were little.

I can just barely remember what that meeting was like. I remember a feeling of warmth, or love and protection. There was something about a mother, of that I am sure. But Marysael is my mother-figure now, even though she may be harsh at times. She is a mother to all of us.

I have dozed off for most of my friends and adoptive siblings tests. I have noticed nothing out of the ordinary. It is now my turn to perform and be evaluated. So I stand, and walk to my predetermined spot.

Oaken staff in hand, I proceeded to attack the stuffed dummy set up hanging from the ceiling. Ducking, whacking, bashing, swinging-all came as naturally to me as swimming does to a fish. Done, she handed me a short sword, given the fact that I may not always have a staff on me, if it breaks. I attack in the same way, shredding the hay-filled man to pieces. Holding my sword at its throat I pause, waiting for Marysael to instruct me to back away, as she has done for the past four years of our training.

"Finish it off."

I glance curiously at her, not quite understanding yet that she wants me to 'kill' the man before me.

"Do as I say. Will you leave an enemy alive on the ground in real battle? I think not. It would get right back up and finish you off itself. Count this as more practice. Now finish it off." Her gaze is cold, emotionless, and truly uncaring. Yet I follow her orders anyway, and sink the sword into the dummy's neck.

A smile warms Marysael's face, but her eyes remain expressionless. I am scared of her now, for some hidden reason that I cannot seem to place. She stands, her white robes swirling around her, her hair billowing in a wind only she is affected by.

"You have all passed."

We cheer and run to hug each other, but the warmth the others feel and share with me does not breach the iced gate that has formed around my heart.

"I am so proud of you, my darlings. You see, this is why you were chosen. The prophecy will never lie. You shall all turn into the heroes you are destined to become. This is such a rite of passage." She sighs a contented sigh. "Now run along to the dining chamber. I shall have breakfast sent to you immediately. Good day, my young heroes." We bow, and depart.

As we run along to our morning feast, our fit, lean bodies twisting in the innocent exuberance of the young, a dark shadow has fallen across my mind. While my smile was care-free and my eyes filled to the brim with delight, it was all set in place as an intricate act. Cold tendrils of disbelief and a shocking pain crawl up and down my body, finally settling in my heart. It was then, as we run and jump along, that something changed for me. I lost the innocence of my childhood right then, much earlier than my friends and sisters would have to. In me it was replaced by a cold heartlessness, and a rage-filled desire to fight, and to win.

My innocence was replaced by the heart of a warrior.


	3. The Phrophecy

_A flapping white wing_

_A swishing black tail_

_Herald the beginning_

_Of an uncontained gale_

_***  
_

_Small little children_

_Just barely turned four_

_Blood painted on hands_

_As done so before_

_***  
_

_Destinies holding_

_Our world's only hope_

_Destruction awaits_

_Unless they can cope_

_***  
_

_Eyes like old lightening_

_Come much too far_

_Three Evils to slay_

_Nights black as tar_

_***  
_

_Under the earth_

_In Hell the Three thrive_

_Once done the devils_

_Should not be alive_

_***  
_

_Eight will begin_

_Only four shall survive_

_***  
_


	4. Chapter 2: Beginnings

_**{Five Years Later}**_

"Savata, get your lazy bum up! We have got a test in _ten minutes!_ Marysael said that if you are late, you are going to fail and you are going to have to take it again!" I groan, and am pulled out of bed by strong Amazonian arms. It was Amith, dragging me to our yearly skill assessment. She yanks my eyes open and my vision is filled by a head of platinum blonde hair pulled into a high ponytail and flashing bloody red eyes. Her eyes have darkened from the light crimson they once were to the deep red they now are. The same thing happened to Ivalis-her eyes had shifted to a dark, rich purple, much unlike their old shimmery violet. Natairi's eyes have become a dancing silver.

Running my fingers through my hair, I throw on a pale blue outfit that was sewn in the traditional Sorceress style- skimpy on the bottom and skimpier on the top. Then I run out of the room and nearly slam into Ivalis and Natairi. Though she says not a word, the rising of Ivalis' eyebrows is all I need to know she disapproves of my lateness.

"Oh, shut up. Let's just get this over with." I brush past her as she smirks with those cocky plum lips.

"I didn't even say anything."

"I don't care. You meant it." Her laugh is low and husky, sultry in the voice of a 13 year old Assassin.

Walking down the hallway, three boys join us. Me, Ivalis and Amith all smile at our respective partners. Natairi does not have a boy to smile at. I have figured that Marysael wants us to fall in love with these boys, and then have their children so that we will be tied to them. But she does not have one of Natairi. I believe she holds some grudge against Necromancers. For Ivalis she has chosen Raverto, a Barbarian, for Amith, Daquir, our Druid friend, and for me… Pav, a Paladin of the Holy Order.

The only thing we exchange is a smile. Other than that we continue in silence, the space between us growing as we near that dreaded courtyard. We throw open the door and open ourselves to a cold, unfeeling expanses of flower and stone. In the middle of it stands a white gilded throne and Marysael holds her seat there, ruling over all who oppose her. Our faces solemn, we walk to our given positions on the tile floor.

A razor-tipped smile flies across Marysael's face. My eyes narrow in response. Something is not right. That hated woman stands.

"For years I have had you train against dummies. Now you will fight each other. Chose your partners and begin." She turns, ad sit once again on her throne, an evil look upon her face. She may be an Archangel, but she most certainly isn't pure.

Pav and I turn to each other. I nod, and we both go and grab our swords. A strong sense of discord is absolutely oozing from Marysael. I will ignore her. Even though Pav is much more adept at sword-work than I am, if I lose, I will still pass. I have tested this a while ago. Even if we are horrible, Marysael will still pass us.

Pav smiles at me. It is a loving smile, one filled with warmth and compassion, but in Marysael's presence, it did nothing to affect my heart as it would usually. He nods, and we begin our deadly dance.

My sword slashes upward toward his head. He blocks it, and returns with a thrush to my midsection. On and on we fight, neither of us giving an inch. It seems to be a pretty even fight, though I know Pav was going easy on me. After a time of endless fighting and blocking and attacking, Marysael finally calls us of. Pav immediately stops. Internally I sneer at him. He was still such a good boy, still so completely under her control. But I was not.

I lunge for him once more, and nearly take his head off.

"Savata!" In Marysael's voice there is a concern so fake in sickens me. I keep my face emotionless, my eyes cold and unconcerned. She doesn't know. Even after all these years, after all this time together, she still doesn't understand.

She still doesn't know that the way she forced me to kill that dummy so long ago was the same way my mother had been murdered.

But I know. And there was no way I was going to forget it.

I looked around us. Obviously Pav and I had been the last to finish. Not surprising.

"You have all passed." No freakin' duh.

But still I cheer; still I run to Pav and hold him tight. I still act as if I am under her spell like the rest of them. Still I must act as if I were 13, young and carefree, with a heart that was still warm. But as we race to the dining hall for the normal celebratory feast, I feel watched. Stopping, I spin around. The only thing I saw that proved me right was the sight of a pair of soulless black eyes and wisp of long black hair.

I do wonder who that could be.

* * *

_**{The Next Year}**_

He joins us on our way to the courtyard for our yearly test. Immediately, we are all wary of him. There's just something about him, something dangerous that warns you away…and yet draws you in as well. Maybe it's the glint in his black eyes, or the way his black hair hangs long over his face. He searches all of our faces, finally settling on mine. He stretches out an olive skinned hand, and a grin slides across his face.

"I'm Jae. I've been in training, like you guys, since I was four. Marysael kept me separate though." I notice how his smile becomes sort of pain-filled when he mentions her name. "I've…kinda been watching you. All of you." I grasp his hand, shake, and then let go. His skin is unbelievable warm, much unlike Pav's, and soft, not at all battle-worn.

"So, what are you?" Pav speaks up. I can see anger in his eyes. Confusion spreads in Jae's.

"You know, I'm a Paladin, Savata's a Sorceress, Natairi's a Necromancer….what are you?"

"Oh." He seems to be holding a secret. "I'm….sort of a Devil." His voice grows soft and his eyes are dark and ashamed.

Well that would explain all the black.

Everyone takes a step back. Except for me. If he's here, he's part of the prophecy, which means he's good. I voice my opinion to the rest of our group, and the agree, even though Pav does not seem to like Jae very much. I turn back to him.

"Well it's nice to meet you." I smile at him, and he smiles back. He has a nice smile. It seems to light up the immediate area around us, and I feel my heart give a little jump. "I hope we can get to know each other." A shadow passes across his face.

"We'll only have a year. But I do hope I can know you as well." There is a secret hidden behind those words. If I had less controls over my emotions, I would have blushed. So he joins us on our way down, and I question him.

"How is it possible for you to be a Devil? Aren't all Devils what we're supposed to be fighting?"

His reluctance to answer made me poke him in impatience.

"Hello? Anybody home?" He laughs.

"Well my father was a Devil but Marysael took me when I was little, so I don't really know him."

"Who was he? Your father, I mean."

He remained silent. "I'd rather not say."

Confused, I let it go as we walk through the doors to the courtyard.

* * *

_**{One Year Later}**_

I found out who Jae's father is.

Diablo.

The same Diablo that we are all tasked with killing.

We also have to kill his uncles, Baal and Mephisto.

This _sucks._

Today, we also found out that we are going to be leaving our sanctuary. There is a place out in the world called the Rouge Encampment. That is where we must travel to. We will be given minimal armor and weapons.

This is where Marysael leaves us.

Technically, where we leave her.

And also where we begin our fight against Diablo. Jae's father.

Let us all come out alive.


	5. Chapter 3: Poor Inhabitants

There is no sun this day.

The Rouge Encampment is a rickety structure. It seems to be a very un-permanent living area. There are guards posted around the entrance, and the people living within are secluded and unfriendly. We are greeted by a man named Warriv. He seems nice, if not a little surprised to see such a large group of such varied warriors traveling together. After talking with him, he directs us to Akara, who is seemingly the camps leader. Almost immediately, we are given a task to prove our worth.

"There is a place of great evil in the wilderness. Kashya's rouge scouts have informed me that a cave nearby is filled with shadowy creatures and horrors from beyond the grave. I fear that these creatures are massing for an attack against our encampment. If you are sincere about helping us, find the dark labyrinth and destroy the foul beasts. May the Great Eye watch over you."

Her voice is filled with disgust and a fragile, desperate hope that we may complete the task she has given us.

I hope we can.

I have only a shoddy staff to call my own. It is much the same for all my companions. Even though, this shoddy staff gives me the ability to cast a spell called Fire Bolt without me having to learn the incantations. I suppose one day I will have to learn them, but for now, I will take what I have been given.

As soon as we venture out into the wild, the Blood Moor, as it has been named, a sense of angst surrounds me. I am not sure if the others feel it as well, but I have the sudden urge for blood, the desire to kill anything that gets in my way.

I take a glance at Jae. He is looking around wildly as well, so I believe he shares this feeling with me. I glance at Pav. He is as calm as ever.

I ignore them both when I hear a moan in the distance, accompanied by the shuffle of undead feet. A zombie is stumbling toward us. I raise my staff and hurl a bolt of fire at it. It catches, and drops to the floor, dead. In a second, the fire goes out. Walking over to its corpse, I prod it with my foot. A single gold coin falls to the floor. It quickly goes to the purse I keep around my waist. As I stand up, I notice all of my companions –except for Jae-staring at me.

"What?"

Amith looks at me with and odd expression on her face.

"You just…killed that thing….then took all it had left….like it was nothing….like it was natural." Her voice was soft and sorrowful. She looked at me with wide eyes.

I was at a loss for words. This was what we're supposed to be doing. It's our job to survive, and this happens to be the way to do that.

Jae comes to my rescue after a moment of tense silence.

"I think its fine. We're all going to have to get used to it, and we're going to have to do some of it ourselves. So now we're going to move on." With that he stood by me, and placed his hand lightly on my shoulder. I lower my gaze under his intense stare.

Pav clears his throat and restarts our march towards the hole named the Den of Evil.

For a while all we do is wander around the Blood Moor, killing whatever we find. Zombies and quill rats are the only things we have to kill here. Mostly Jae, Natairi and I do the killing, since the rest of them are squeamish about searching through the bodies.

Then I smell death, much stronger than the normal scent that surrounds us. It appears to be coming from a rocky hole in the ground.

"Well…I think we found it."

We decide to not go in today, as, according to Akara, it seems quite dangerous and none of us plan on getting killed. Instead, the eight of us continue to scout the land and its boundaries. Once we were are to pass through a stone wall that will lead into a new area, but a Rouge named Flavie stops us.

Obviously we're not good enough to go up against the creatures wandering around in there.

The night begins to crawl its way across the sky, and we head back, passing the looted bodies of zombies and quill rats as we go. Once we get to the Rouge Encampment, we wander around for a while. We meet Kashya, who doesn't seem to like us very much, Charsi, the local blacksmith, who we sell the minimalistic goods we found to, and Gheed, who tries to entice us to gamble on a few of his items. Ivalis seems as if she would, but we have nothing to gamble with. All together, including the money we got from trading with Charsi, we have just over 60 coins.

We are poor-completely, undeniably poor.

On our way back to the tent the Rouge's oh-so kindly put up for us, we meet up with Warriv. Daquir and Amith stop to talk with him. The rest of us put all of our equipment down, while Jae and I go to talk to Akara.

When we first approach her, something odd happens. All of our bruises fade, our cuts heal, and we feel imminently better. She smiles a warm, loving smile.

"Good evening, Akara." I bow my head "I wanted to see if I could borrow a staff, just for the night, to work on the incantations for Fire Bolt."

"Why of course, my dear." She hands me a staff that is very plain and has no enchantments placed upon it. I smile back at that wonderful woman.

As we walk back, Jae takes me hand. I glance up at him, confused. He just looks at me and laughs.

"Well, I don't see what's so funny."

"You are. You question everything anyone does, no matter what their intentions."

I'm not satisfied with that answer, but he refuses to say any more, despite my pleadings.

For the next couple of hours, all the way into the darkest parts of the night, I practice and practice my incantations until I finally get it right. When I do, I squeal like a little girl and go hug Jae.

"I think there are two of you inside that head of yours." I glance at him, my arms still around his neck, with questions flying in my eyes.

"Sometimes you're five, not fifteen, and you act all childish and silly, like now. But other times you're a fully mature warrior with seemingly no heart at all to care with." His eyes drift skyward.

"Sheesh, you could've said that a little nicer." I poke him in the chest. A laugh escapes his lips, and he looks down at my face, his coal black hair fluttering in the breeze.

"Yea, but then I wouldn't be me, would I?"

Then he leans down and kisses me, for just a single second, before pulling back. Suddenly I don't hate this place very much anymore. I feel something within my heart burst, and something new takes its place.

We return the staff to Akara and then head back to our tent.

It is a cold night outside. I can feel the chill sink into my bones and I huddle closer to myself underneath my blanket. Then Jae lies down next to me and it isn't as cold anymore. He strokes my hair and sighs.

"Good night, Savata."

I fall into a sleep befitting a queen.


	6. Chapter 4: These Crimson Caverns

Get me out of this accursed place.

The scent of death was surrounding us, creeping over our skin, sinking into our very souls, slowly corrupting us all from the inside out. I see Amith's eye start to water; I see Ivalis wrinkle her nose at the stench. Natairi, however, feels right at home, here among the dead that haunt this place. The rocks that form the cavern walls around us are smeared with the scent of warriors that have come and fallen before us.

I take a breath of the stale air and step forward into the blackened shell of a cave, with Jae on my right side and a hesitant Amith on my left. Our approach is blocked by a small crimson creature yelling in some odd, garbled language.

"Awwhh, it's sorta cute!" Amith is practically cooing over it as it rushes at us. "You know, in an evil little monster way." It draws closer, whacks her in the shin with its club and scuttles out of the way.

"Ow, my god, you little piece of red demon, get over here." It cackles manically and runs back towards her. As Amith is still clutching her shin, I decide to take care of the pest. Just as I raise my staff to burn it to ashes an arrow flies and strikes it in the throat, so it falls to the floor, dead, and spurting blood.

Whirling, I see Amith holding her bow in the dead creature's general direction. She looks at me with eyes wide as saucers and a slight grin on her face.

"Man, that felt good." I giggle and run to hug her; I am glad she has finally joined the world of warriors after what has seemed like so long.

Once we are done, she kicks the body and pulls her arrow out. In doing so she dislodges two coins and a small red vial.

Then there is a flash of gold light and the creature is up once again.

We are all confused, and we let it run. Slowly I venture forth after it, deeper into the dripping caves, and there is a whole herd of them, including a larger one holding a crude staff. The one Amith "killed" has a hole in its neck where the arrow struck. They all notice me at once, and I pick them off, one by one, even though the rest flee when the first falls. The golden light flashes again and they all rise.

I realize that the larger one, seemingly the shaman, is resurrecting them, so I look at my target and throw fire bolts one after the other directly at him. He returns with one of his own, but while his misses, mine all strike him dead center. He falls with a strange yell.

Now Jae and Amith join the fight-Amith shooting arrow after arrow and Jae slashing at them with his burning sword. Within seconds, all that's left of them is a floor full of bloody corpses and a sparse array of gold and even fewer items. The three of us split the gold evenly, and I end up with two blue vials, Jae with the red one, and Amith with the boots and cap.

The other five of my comrades quickly catch up to us, so we walk until we come to a place where the cavern diverges into two separate roads. I, Jae, Amith and Natairi took one way while Pav, Raverto, Daquir and Ivalis take the other road.

Placing an arm out, I held back my fellow comrades when the sounds of fighting came to our ears. By the time we arrived, Pav, Raverto, Daquir and Ivalis were standing in a pool of blood, surrounded by a group of the fallen red creatures and their shaman.

Yes, we just let our friends get ambushed.

We nod at them and all of us continue on our way.

Soon, a rotting stench, one much fouler than the air in this place, hits my nose. Cringing, I back up, but Natairi confirms the smell anyway. Lying on the ground is the rotting corpse of a Rouge, crawling with maggots and red with dried blood. This is enough to make me pause, to make me wonder if all this is worth it. All it takes is a single body to unlatch the gate I keep on everything I remember from our wretched time living with Marysael. Rage fills my body as I remember how she forced us apart and forced us against each other, both in the physical and mental way. All I can see is the blood painted on the Rouge's hands, and the rest of my vision becomes dark.

Struggling, I drag myself out of the pit of misery and hate I have fallen into and back into the real world-the one filled with lies and deceit and dead, bloody hands.

Natairi is untroubled by this sight of carnage before us. She gently kicks the body, and a quiver of arrows falls out. Wordlessly, Amith goes to collect the loot that should obviously be hers, but she is much more hesitant than it appears she should be. She looks at me with tears welling in those pools of red fire we call her eyes. I take a deep breath and she does the same before we continue on.

Another body lies maybe ten feet from the first. Once again, it is Natairi who unearths the gold hidden in the corpse. I force myself to remain calm, tie my emotions down under ropes of pure mental strength. A strong, calloused hand lands on my shoulder, and I look up to see the blue of Pav's eyes. Worry is wreaking its havoc on his soul, and I realize it is because of me. None of the others in our group seem to notice that something is amiss, but Pav is already here before I can even make my fear evident.

"Are you okay?" His voice is low and heartfelt. I smile on the inside and nod as the muscles in my face spread themselves into a grin. Pav will always be here for me, not matter what happens. I know this for sure, because he has told me often and he is sure to tell me again. With three words he has lifted the burden from my heart, and reignited the fire within me, and maybe something a little more intense as well.

He smiles back, and then a voice smooth like silk jumps into our conversation.

"We should get going." Jae is staring at Pav with unrestrained anger in his eyes. Pav just looks back with a cool satisfaction. When Jae's eyes turn to me, I feel an unnamable guilt rise within me, and yet the fire in his eyes cools.

I turn my head from the both of them and go join Amith and Ivalis.

Farther in, we reach another pack of the little red creatures that fall like tissue paper, the mildly harder shamans, and a couple of zombies. They are rather pointless, and soon the cavern splits again. We end up in the same groups as last time, something I am sure Pav is not happy about.

The first thing we see is another body. Natairi is still the one to kick the body over and take the potion. No one else is looking, but I see her slip a single gold coin into Jae's pocket when we once again start up in our walk. Narrowing my eyes at her, I am not naïve enough to disregard this act of charity as merely that. Gold is sparse for us; giving it away means that Natairi quite obviously has feelings for Jae that run deeper than friendship. I suppose I realize why, though. Yes, he is very attractive and charming, but never before has she had anyone to fall for-when he was introduced to us, she must have felt like he was to be hers.

Incidentally, he's not.

I stumble over something lying on the ground. It is yet another Rouge corpse, yet another tribute to the evil that haunts these echoic caverns. Another quiver of arrows and two coins fall from the body. I pick them up and give Amith the arrows. Each corpse we see weighs upon my heart, rock after rock settling within its hollow chambers.

Still more of the red creatures are in front of us-more than before-and I am caught up in the fight, in the sense of blood rushing through my veins, and I forget.

Once again the caves split, and we chose to go left, finding two more corpses and a well formed by rock and slow dripping water. We each take a drink, and we luxuriate in the sweet taste for a moment. Then we continue on, only to find that the caverns split for a third time that night.

Sticking to pattern we, take the leftmost way, just to realize the entire thing is just filled with tiny paths like pockmarks. Another host of red creatures-Fallen, I believe they are called-and three half-decomposed zombies block our path, but they are easily disposed of. More of the Fallen stand in our way, but soon we are past them, and we come to the place where all the paths meet. The sound of dead, shuffling feet reaches my ears, and unholy moans fly through the air around us.

This is the very end of the cavern. I can see the thoughts reflected in my comrade's eyes. _All this buildup and all we have to do is kill a couple of zombies?_ We are relived, though, that it will not be hard.

Then we actually step into the final cavern. We are face to face with at least 15 zombies, if not more. Far away in the corner, I spot one who's rotting flesh is a sickly blue-green, and rags of green weeds hung off of him, paying homage to the time he spent under the earth. In seconds, we are overwhelmed as they all see us at once. I am shooting Fire Bolt after Fire Bolt; Amith fires her arrows, Natairi and her skeleton fight side by side with bone axe and cursed blade. Jae is searing putrid flesh with his blade alit with flame-yet they fierce battle takes its toll.

Soon Amith runs out of arrows, and I follow her retreat quickly, having no energy left to burn away the skin of zombies. Natairi is still going, but her skeleton has dropped to the floor in a clatter of bones. I have enough energy left to cast one final bolt at a zombie that is about to strike Jae from behind. Then I hear a roar from behind me and I turn, ready to defend against whatever attacker that has snuck up on us. Instead I see Raverto's bulging muscles, Pav's cold battle fury, Daquir and his knife and Ivalis leaping towards us.

They finish the remainder of the zombies pretty quick, with them being completely full of energy. Having them come to our rescue has put faith back in my heart, and, without meaning to, a shard of ice comes out of my staff and slaughters the already weakened blue creature. I feel the cruel ferociousness of the icy cold bolt leave my body, and I wonder when I learned how to do that.

The zombie leader falls, and with it the black sense of despair that had been haunting this place for so long. A pale light began to flicker through the cracks in the ceiling, filling the place with a sense peace that was lost long ago.

We had cleansed the Den Of Evil.

A triumphant grin spreads across my faces, and the excitement catches like wildfire. Soon we are all running around and jumping, screaming into the now not-so-dark darkness in the ecstasy of knowing we have some worth in the world besides a foretold prophecy.

* * *

Once we are back at the camp, Akara warmly offers to teach us all another skill and, obviously, we take her up on the offer. I choose to increase my knowledge of the Ice Bolt I had unintentionally cast. We work long into the night, and when we finish, a champion's dinner of rabbit stew and rolls is waiting for us.

I fall asleep by the roaring fire, and let myself slip into dreams filled with a house I never remember and a four-year old with wild red hair.


	7. Chapter 5: And The Arrow Flies True

I am awakened by a spray of dirt on my face and a rough voice shouting above my ear.

"Wake up, you lazy _cretins_! The world is falling apart right in front of your eyes and you think you can _sleep_ until _noon?_ Get yourselves _up_ or I swear I'll tie you up and feed you to Andariel!" Struggling to tear my eyes open, I stumbled to my feet, only to have Kashya scream in my face some more. "And _you! _You think you can just come in here and laze around after only one fight, one task, one _challenge_? I don't _think_ so! You're not the kings and queens of this place!"

She tears her rampage from me, and focuses on those who haven't gotten up yet. Amazingly, I was the first one standing, probably since Kashya practically kicked me in the head. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I return my attention to Kashya's yells.

'-that's hard? Go try and defeat _Blood Raven-_that's should knock some _sense_ into you! I've already lost five perfectly trained Rogues to her-_five_!"

"Fine." She whirls to face me.

"What did you say?" Her voice is quiet now, iced with venom.

"I said _fine_-we'll go kill Blood Raven. We'll do what your Rogues couldn't."

"I bet you can't." She sounds just as defiant as I do.

"But we can."

She sashays forward until she's standing right in front of me. From this close of a range, I can see the fine lines around her eyes, proving she isn't quite as young as she led you to believe. "Fine then. I'll make you a deal. If you can kill Blood Raven, all of her minions, and clean out the crypt and Mausoleum, I'll hire out my Rogues to you."

I smile, and stick out a hand."Deal."

We shake on it, and she walks away, giving me one final glare. As soon as she's out of earshot, I speak.

"I think I like her." Amith, standing on my side, looks at me with undisguised confusion on her face. I just laugh, and walk off in the direction of our tent to gather my supplies. Yesterday I had gathered enough gold to but a simple cloth tunic. It wasn't much, but it was protection enough for now. Ivalis was the next behind me, silent until she cleared her throat.

"Oh, hey. Didn't notice you there." I swung by head back around to my bag, searching listlessly through it for a missed coin.

"Hey to you to. Uhmm I was wondering…..could I borrow a coin? Just one…maybe two…Gheed has some really cool items and I'm saving up to gam-to buy one but I don't have enough yet. Even just one coin would be really great." Her dark eyes were pleading, her mouth curved downwards in a hopeful way. She looked so innocent, so desperate I couldn't help but say yes. I handed over two coins, which was quite a lot to us, and she ran out of the tent, a happy smile on her face.

I was trying to figure out how to get my cloth tunic on when a gentle hand grasped it and pulled it down over my head. I turned around to find Jae, standing there with an amused smile on his face.

"Don't look so smug! Don't you remember the time when you tried to-"

"Don't say it!"

"-fit in one of my dresses?"

'You said it!"

"It ripped right down the seams! And then-

"Stop!"

"-it got stuck around your belt! So for the rest of the day-

"Will you cut it out?"

"-you walked around with my dress tied to your waist!"

He ran at my and put his hand over my mouth to stop me from talking any longer. I was cracking up on the inside, and then I punched him in the stomach. He let go of me and then we were both on our knees, laughing at the stupidity of the situation. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Natairi walk in the tent, take one look at us hunched over on the floor, acting like maniacs, and she walked back out again.

That only made me laugh harder.

When we finally regained control of ourselves, we packed up our stuff without saying a word. That's just how Jae and I were-we could laugh about something until we cried, not talk for hours, then look at each other and just _know_ we were both thinking about whatever had made us laugh. It's not something we purposely did-it just happened.

Once we got out of the tent, the rest of our group went inside, and then we departed for the Burial Grounds, where Blood Raven was supposedly raising an army of the dead. Along the way I noticed that Amith and Daquir are standing quite close to each other, and looking at lot more friendly than normal. I catch Amith's eye, and she winks at me, looking smug as a Marysael after she passes us on another exam. I mouth the words '_We're going to talk about this later._' As a way to talk to each other without really talking, Amith and I taught each other to read lips. The others haven't quite picked up on it yet.

The Blood Moor was completely devoid of any sign of life until we got right about to the part where Flavie was. There were a couple more Fallen and their Shaman, but we took care of them pretty quickly. This time Flavie just nodded and stepped aside to let us pass. I guess one day really makes a difference out here.

I was surprised by the difficulty of the creatures we found there. They were really more like humans though-Rogues with rotting skin and armour speckled with blood and the stench of death. Amith and I didn't do much against them, as they ran up to us immediately and we were no good at close combat. Raverto took out most of them, but Pav and Jay were on either of his sides, and Daquir conjured up a wolf to attack from behind them. All in all, we girls didn't get to do much. With a glance at Amith, we grabbed Natairi and Ivalis and melted away from the boys.

After we were out of earshot, Natairi whispered to us "Won't they worry when they realize we're gone?"

"Are you kidding me? Definitely not. If we were being kidnapped we would have made a sound. They'll realize we wanted to go alone." Ivalis rolled her eyes while she talked and picked up her pace. As we traveled we met more creatures and, with Ivalis taking up the main attacks, Natairi cursing the Corrupted Rogues and Amith and I taking them out long-range, we easily killed them off. Eventually we found a break in the wall that led to a new enclosure. In the distance beyond I saw skeletons and zombies stumbling around in a graveyard. There was a single corpse on the ground that proved the boys had been here already and that they hadn't gone in.

Ivalis started towards the gate.

"Ivalis! Get back here!" Natairi grabbed at her arm.

"Why?"

"We can't just go in there! We should find the boys first; then we should head back to the camp, get better armour and _then_ come back! Ivalis!" The Assassin just continued walking, her swaying hips daring us to follow. Without a backward glance, she was going to charge right into the mass of undead creatures. I let out a remorseful sigh and followed her, knowing Amith would be right on my tail.

"Guys!" Natairi, ever the wistful, watchful one, gave out a groan and chased us down as we caught up to Ivalis. She looked at us with a flash of anger, and then it was gone as we entered the Burial Grounds.

Pockets of skeletons with blood on their swords and zombies with festering green flesh turned towards us. Behind the rusted gate we could see a mass convergence of the creatures, and I could just make out the figure of a woman with a horned helmet and a bloodied bow. We fought our way through the pockets to the main courtyard. Stationed underneath a tree with dead Rogues dangling from its decimated branches was Blood Raven. Compared to the shuffling, creaking creatures around her she was proud, tall, the elite leader of a band of misfits.

When she saw us, her mouth curved up into a wry smile. She drew back her bow, the armored body snaking into position, her eyes burning a bright red, lit with the fires of Hell.

"Come join my army of the dead."

She released the arrow. It struck me high in the arm-a warning shot, a small herald of what was to come.

"God da-Ivalis!" So with a graceful leap, Ivalis sliced three of the surrounding zombies and then went flying towards Blood Raven, kicking her hard, snapping the creature's head back. A ring of fire exploded from where Ivalis had kicked her. It was as if she charged herself up, then let the fire explode out of her in that one kick.

Blood Raven darted away, not yet defeated. She wouldn't make the mistake of underestimating Ivalis again. Darting around the perimeter she shot delicate arrows at us, forcing us to move much faster than normal. Amith, Natairi and I continuously mowed down Blood raven's dead creations, and the rate at which she made more was a feeble attempt at an offensive strategy. Eventually it was just us and her, and the occasional monster. We couldn't get too close, but that wasn't our directive. Ivalis, with three balls of fiery charge floating around her, was slowly but surely creeping up behind her. Our job was just to distract her with balls of ice and fleeting arrows and nuisance curses

A second too late, Blood Raven realized she was only facing three of us. In a desperate attempt at retribution, she turned, and shot her last arrow.

Ivalis, with her ringing steel claws painted in the red of blood, sliced Blood Raven's head off.

But Blood Raven's last arrow had hit her, right in the collarbone by her left shoulder. Sticking out of the delicate flesh there, Ivalis looked dangerous, a demon all her own. Drops of blood slid down her face, the skin turning a deathly white as she fainted to the ground.

It was the first time any of us had really gotten hurt. I screamed, a horrible rasping sound that ripped out of my throat, leaving it dry and burning. Natairi fell to her knees, tears in her eyes, muttering 'I'm sorry' and 'never should have come' over and over and over again. Amith was the only one being productive kneeling over Ivalis' white face, dribbling one of our precious red potions into her mouth. She coughed, waking up, and gave a sharp little cry in surprise at the pain.

"Savata, get on her other side, Natairi get her legs; we're carrying her back to camp. Hurry!" I stopped my uselessness and supported Ivalis from her uninjured arm. Amith grabbed her around the waist and Natairi lifted her legs-we were lucky she was so light, otherwise we may have never brought gotten her back to camp.

We staggered into the camp, held down by the long walk and her minuscule wait. Akara ran towards us, got some of Kashya's Rogues to take her from us, and brought her into the brown tent on the edge of camp. Giving us a reassuring smile, I noticed Kashya in a corner looking smug, whispering to the Rogues around her, telling them of our defeat. A spark of anger burned in my chest, and I walked over to her, my stride confident, my head held high, and the feel of my hair whipping in the wind behind me.

Her eyes were cold, condescending, chilled to the bone.

"Pay up."

She looked at me curiously

"What did you say?"

"You seem to say that a lot. I said, pay up. We killed Blood Raven. You said if we did we could each have one of your Rogues as a mercenary. Pay, up.

Her eyes were wild, confused "But-the Assassin-her shoulder-what?"

"Blood Raven's last arrow hit Ivalis right before she died. Go check the corpse."

Just then, the boys ran into the camp, and Jae and Pav charged over to me and started to talk at the same time, their two voices melding into one, asking the same questions simultaneously.

"Are you guys okay? We circled back to the Burial Grounds but when we got there, Blood Raven was dead and there was blood all over and we couldn't find you! Hey where's Ivalis?"

I turned towards Kashya, and she slowly nodded in submission.

As if to back up my words even further, rain started to fall.


	8. Chapter 6: Plot Your Revenge

"I can't _believe_ I have to stay here while you guys go out fighting!"

Kashya quickly realized that we only held up part of our bargain-we hadn't cleaned out the Crypt or the Mausoleum. So, as soon as we were sure that Ivalis wasn't going to die, we planned to head back out to finish the deal. To her own disappointment she wouldn't be able to move her arm for a good two days. The arrow had hit a lot of nerves, and even with the precious red potions I overheard Akara brewing, it would take a while to fully heal. Of course, that meant she couldn't come out with us to kill stuff, and we had to listen to her complain.

Poor Akara-she's stuck with her for the rest of the day. And the next day. _And_ the day after that.

We heard her complaining far after we were out of camp. We traveled through the Blood Moor, the Cold Plains, etc. until we came to the Burial Grounds. There we decided to split up into smaller groups to clean out each area faster-I went with Amith and Jae, and Natairi went with the other three of the guys. As our groups separated, I could've sworn I saw Pav and Jae exchange the dirtiest of looks-but then Amith drew my attention away from them.

"Hey-can I tell you about Daquir?" Her eyes were eager with anticipation, and a longing to share with me this new surprise in her mostly boxed-in life.

"Of course! Talk, right now."

And so in the short five minutes it took us to walk to the Crypt-a haunting, square building that really didn't look like much-she told me all about Daquir. Supposedly after the rest of us fell asleep, Daquir woke her up and brought her out for a midnight picnic right beyond the edge of the encampment. They dined on tiny squares of bread and slices of apples, and even had a couple of sips of champagne. They talked for hours, until the sun was just peering over the horizon. Then he gave her a small kiss on the cheek and told her he'd liked her for a while, but was too afraid to tell her. She said it was so romantic she thought she might've been dreaming.

I sighed encouragingly, and made swooning motions at all the right parts, happy that my friend was enjoying herself with her newfound love. But secretly, I couldn't help but long for a little love of my own, a little romance to keep inside me like a candle flame. All I'd gotten was one kiss-one stunning, burning kiss-and I longed for more.

Jae kept a respectful distance away from our gossip until we got right to the entrance of the Crypt. Then he placed a hand on both of our shoulders and pulled us apart.

"Ladies….we have arrived."

We stepped into the stone hall as one unit carved out of skin and leather and metal. It was a dimly lit chamber, small, with no visible creatures or doors to another level. Then, of course, Jae kicked the back wall, which did appear to be thicker than the rest, and it crumbled into dust. A forgotten staircase lead down to the deeper parts of the Crypt, and I could hear the murmur of undead footsteps upon stone. We readied ourselves, and went down.

It was down there, in the Crypt, that I discovered my obsession with looking into every room, scouring the areas for any item or coin we might have missed, and kicking over every single barrel we found. It didn't matter to me how long it took, as long as I got the gold or items or whatever else I found. Of course, if it wasn't something I could use, I gave it to Amith or Jae or kept it away for one of the others. But by the time we reached the bottom floor, my bag was bulging with the items I'd picked up, I had a full new set of armor (Jae and Amith did too-I was being very generous) and I was grinning like a _complete_ maniac.

As we approached the final room, I could hear the symptomatic shuffle of bone against the floor of the Crypt. Peering around the corner, I let my overtly heavy backpack slip of my shoulder onto the stony floor. It landed with the sharp clang of metal falling, and every single skeletal head in the other room turned towards us.

"You idiot! What was that for?" Amith's whisper was filled with panic.

"Shhh! I'm drawing them out. It'll be easier to kill them if they have to come through the doorway. Jae, get on one side so you can hit them when they come out. Amith, you and I are going to stand on an angle from the doorway so we can hit them without getting in Jae's way. Come on now! Quickly!"

We took up our positions as the creatures began to trickle through.

* * *

"You have to admit, my plan worked pretty well." We were currently on our way home, trekking through the muddy Blood Moor, weighed down by the weight of our struggles.

"Yes, you're an amazing tactician, Sav." Amith rolled her eyes at my infallible pride.

"And so mocks the girl who spent of all Battle Strategy staring out the window!" Jae comes to my defense, and we all laugh.

I_ am_ a pretty good tactician, though, and my plan _did_ work very well. No one got hurt, and pretty soon all that was left of our opponents was a giant pile of bones of the floor. We looted their bodies, and then went inside the room just to realize that we had one more adversary left to kill-a jacked-up skeleton named BoneBreaker. He was huge, red and hissed at us like a snake through his jagged teeth. Amith and I took little pecks at him while Jaw ran right up and swung his fiery sword at his face.

It really didn't take all that long to kill him, and we took this a sign that we were getting better, that we were hardening ourselves towards the ultimate fight, the day we would be forced to bring down Diablo himself.

When we opened the golden chest, items and gold began to spring out of it like a fountain of wealth. Of course, we split the gold evenly, handed out weapons accordingly, and replaced our armor with the better armor we found. There was one metal chest piece that only Jae could wear, because Amith couldn't walk in it and I couldn't even pick it up.

So now we were walking in the rain through the fields of the Blood Moor, sweaty and hot and chilled to the bone and yet the smiles on our faces could light up the world if you asked them to.

* * *

We got back before the others did and, after selling what we knew no one could use and replenishing our potions and repairing all of our armour, we went to go see Ivalis.

"Thank the GODS you're back!"

The way she made her day sound, she'd been tied to a barrel and left outside to be force fed 'those horrible red potions'.

"They tasted like _dirt!_ But I drank so many of them, Akara said I could maybe come back out with you guys tomorrow! Isn't that great? Because I _know_ that you missed me."

She continued on her rant for a while, moaning about the looks Kashya gave her and the glances of pity thrown her way when she glared back.

"I really hate that woman. Like, I think I'm going to punch her in the nose as soon as I have the ability of my arm back."

Eventually, she asked us about how the rest of our day went.

So we told her about the Crypt and how the barrels sometimes exploded when I kicked them, and the undefiled tombs that I, well, defiled, and how my plan had worked just _brilliantly_. And when Jae left to go talk to Charsi about something, Amith and I told her all about Daquir, and how utterly _romantic_ he was, and I locked my resentment under the happiness I felt for my friend.

When the other group got back, we took Natairi aside and told _her_ everything. By the time we were done, the guys were sort of standing a little bit away, glancing at us awkwardly every now and then. Amith decided that we should end their misery, and so we waved them over. Now our talk was centered on more mundane things, if the lives we lived could even be classified as mundane. We talked and traded stories up until the fire grew cold, discussing plans for the future and tales of the day.

The Mausoleum was much like the Crypt, just a slightly different layout. Kashya had promised to give us out pick of Rouges the next day, and I think that the extra glimmer I saw in her eyes was the slightest hint of respect for our band of muddy, underage warriors. All of our pouches were swelling with the brief fit of gold we found, and out back were covered with much higher-grade armour that the regular clothes we had started out with. Almost all of the others had gotten a better weapon, with the exception of Ivalis, because she wasn't there to claim what was her own. I, however, had gone to ask Akara about the price of a newer, better staff and it was insanely high for me to even imagine.

I'm going to have to do a _lot_ of saving if I even want a lower class one.

Right before we decided to turn in for the night, Daquir touched Amith on the shoulder and led her away to a corner of the camp. Catcalls and whistles followed them as they walked away, Amith's face like fire. Just after two in the morning, we fell asleep, a giant group of happy, if scarred, warriors.

* * *

_ The raven took flight from its perch above the young lovers' heads. They both turned, and the bird memorized their faces in case Mistress ever needed them for one of her plots or games. 'Mistress does love her games.' the bird though as he flew. 'Glad I am no longer a part of them'. Winging his way over the fields filled with the blood of Mistress's minions, loyal even in death, Servant thought about how peculiar this assignment was._

_ "Go to the camp filled with enemies of mine…." Her voice was the ashes that flew from a wildfire, mocking the damned with the faint whisper of promise and the scent of their own demise. "Spy upon the ones who love each other in the shadows of the walls….tell me what they are…tell me what they feel like….let no detail escape your cunning little eyes….I want to know their weaknesses….what I can do to make them fall…."_

_ And so Servant had gone and spied upon the two of them, following as if he were a shadow with wings, with no tether. He watched them fight-saw that they were both inexperienced to the nth degree-watched how they talked back and forth beneath the wall of their home. His beady black eyes took in every detail of their personalities-he made brief note of the others, but concentrated mostly on the pair of young lovers._

_ He approached the stone fortress Mistress had taken from the women who ran the camp that his targets were staying at. It was truly a lovely building, even with Mistress's…additions. Flying low over the heads of her soldiers arrayed in the over ground building, he shuddered at the gruesome sights of blood and torture he saw displayed there. In Mistress's personal chambers there was none, only the outer rooms. He was unused to the blood, as he lived with Mistress. Heading down to the jail, he tried to close his eyes against the rows of chains and dismembered bodies, but saw the sights behind his eyelids anyway._

_ "Servant…..you come bearing news?" Mistress was on her throne, surrounded by a heap of fresh sacrifices._

_ Gulping, Servant flew up to her so she could extract the memories of all he had seen. Peering into the pool of blood she used to watch, she stroked him, over and over, with only one finger, as she was much larger than he._

_ "Ahhh…do you remember those days, Servant?" Her face took on an almost sad quality. "When I was human, and you were human, and we loved as if we were real? I do…but then that accursed Diablo took a fancy to me-turned me into this when I refused him…you were going to die….but I made you a bird, Servant….a loyal bird…" And Servant grew lost in memories of a time long, long ago, in a life that was now lost to him, and he slept._

_ "They love like we once did, Servant…" She petted his sleeping form drowsily, almost absentmindedly. "It is such a shame that he will have to die….such a shame…"_

_ And so in her room under the rogue's corrupted fortress, Andariel laughed, called for another sacrifice, and began to plot the death of an innocent Druid._


	9. Chapter 7: Only For A Sage

Once again it was Kashya who awakened us, but this time with only rough shakes of the shoulder-there was no kicking involved. That was a meager blessing, as the sun hadn't even crept over the edge of the world when we were forced from our sweet, sad dreams of the only home we had ever known.

The Rouges Kashya was offering to us were lined up like chess figures directly parallel to our sleeping places. Daquir and Amith stumbled over from their corner, looking just as disgruntled as we did, if not more annoyed. "Take your pick." Her voice was grating, a scream in my sleep-muffled ears, and her amber eyes flashed with aggravation.

So we tried to wake ourselves up, and we looked over the women who oh-so willingly offered their services. We ended up wanting Aliza, a tall, steely-eyed warrior with more years of experience under her belt than all of ours' combined and then _tripled._ There was, however, a catch. Kashya hadn't told us that we were expected to pay for the services of her women; we just assumed we were getting them for free-but that wasn't the case. Aliza was one of the most expensive mercenaries, and we simply didn't have the money.

You should have seen Ivalis and Raverto-they would have ripped Kashya to shreds if she hadn't been so utterly important to the camp's survival .

"That was _not_ in our agreement!"

"-never said a single _thing_ about payments and-"

Their faces bulged with purple rage, and Kashya's condescending smirk only sent them into greater whirlwinds of harpy shrieks and hatred.

Eventually we grew to accept that fact that there was nothing we could do to alter the fine print on our unfair contract. After pooling our resources and emptying our purses, we could just barely afford Breeya, a small wisp of a girl who couldn't be more than 14. To add to our already large company a paid warrior who had less experience than we did was a slightly crushing fact, but we held onto her earnest protest that she could learn, she really could.

"So what are we going to do today?" She was so delicate looking-it was as if I hit her, she would break. Those pale, baby blue eyes reminded me of Marysael, except hers held only warmth and eager anticipation.

"I can answer that for you." Unbeknownst to us, Akara had wandered over to the outskirts of our confrontation, waiting patiently to approach. Her face was fully shielded by the encompassing folds of her purple robe, and I could only barely make out her features. "It is eminent to me that this Evil we are facing is difficult for all of us to understand. There is currently only one Horadrim Sage, schooled in arcane history, who could help us….but he is in Tristram."

Every single one of us stopped any movement, help our breaths, waited for her to say she was kidding. But Akara did not kid, and we all knew deep in our hearts what she meant for us to do.

We had to travel to Tristram.

Even though we had grown up in Marysael's mysterious palace, we knew of the tragedy that had befallen that poor, desolate town. It was the place where Diablo had originally settled, where he had first started his reign of bloody terror in our world. It was also the place where the unknown warrior had defeated him for the first time, ridding our world of him for a short period, but the warrior wasn't able to completely wipe his presence from the area. Putrid beats still wandered the burning pile of rubble it had become, crawling over the shared grave of Hell's most demonic leader and the valiant warrior who sacrificed him or herself for the greatest cause our land had ever known.

We still have no one to credit with the original defeat of Diablo; we still don't even know the gender of his killer, a fact that only seems to add to the allure, the mystery.

"You're asking us…to go to _Tristram_?" The tales of its current desolation were wide spread, and probably blown out of proportion, but we still had a deep seated fear of the place. Nine pairs of wide eyes focused on Akara, who only looked back at us with the solemn regard of the doomed.

"Eventually, yes. But first, you must find the Tree of Inifuss. Breeya knows where it is-all the Rogues are given a quick tour through the areas we fight in-so I had to wait for you to get one of the Rogues to show you. Now that you are properly equipped, I am comfortable enough in asking this task of you."

Grabbing Amith's wrist in a silent death grip, I swallowed my fear and nodded at Akara.

"Oh, good! My first day on the job and I get to help you make a raid on Tristram!" Breeya giggled and started to prance out of the camp. Hurrying behind her, everyone except Amith and I went after her retreating form, as I still held her wrist.

"His name is Deckard Cain. If he is still alive, he will be instrumental in defeating Diablo. Please try to bring him to us."

Nodding sagely, we couldn't help but snicker at her pensiveness for just a moment as we walked away, jogging to catch up with everyone else.

Once we reached them, we noticed that Breeya was chattering wildly, obviously nervous-excited about this first task of hers.

"-is definitely going to be the hardest to defeat out of all the creatures. He's like, _huge_ and he's got tons of little minion Gargantuans to help him. You guys are just _so_ brave coming out here, risking your lives-especially with that horrible death knoll at the end of the Prophecy. I mean, I wouldn't be out here if I had that hanging over my-"

"Wait, what do you mean, the death knoll at the end of the Prophecy? You mean Diablo's death?" Natairi, always the one in the details, picked up on that slight error in her speech.

But instead of her expected bubbly response, Breeya came to a complete standstill, her voice soft and sorrowful. "What are you talking about? Don't you know?"

"Know _what_?" Now all of us were concerned, shuffling around her slight form in a mass of leather and steel.

She looked back at us with concern in her vapid eyes, and opened her mouth as if to bestow upon us a curse that would last a lifetime.

"Look," Fed up with the whole premise of this, I decided to speak up. "This is what we know as the Prophecy about us._ A flapping white wing_; _A swishing black tail_. _Herald the beginning_; _Of an uncontained gale_. _Small little children_; _Just barely turned four_. _Blood painted on hands_; _As done so before_. _Destinies holding_; _Our world's only hope_. _Destruction awaits_; _Unless they can cope_. _Eyes like old lightening_; _Come much too far_. _Three Evils to slay_; _Nights black as tar_. _Under the earth_; _In Hell the Three thrive_. _Once done the devils_; _Should not be alive_."

"There's no mention of any deaths beside Diablo, Mephisto and Baal's in there. So what are you talking about?"

Breeya's face took on an almost grey shade, and even her eyes seemed to lose their color. "Oh, but you forgot the last two lines."

"There _are_ no other lines. Marysael only taught us those." Pav, ever the trusting, idiotic one, would surely stand by Marysael until the day she died-or until he died for her.

Breeya murmured something under her breath.

"What? Speak up, girl!" I could tell Raverto was longing to hit her-it was in his Barbarian nature-but he was thankfully controlling himself.

"_Eight will begin: only four shall survive._"

We stood in silence.

"Those are the last two lines."

Her voice was softer than the breeze we were standing in, but we heard her loud and clear.

We had been raised on that Prophecy, raised on the belief that we would prosper, that we would all survive through the trials of our lifetime, and that all of us would we able to live our own lives after we defeated Diablo and his brethren. Now that dream, that one precious, fragile hope we had to hold on to was shattered. Even though Breeya was young and effortlessly naïve, we couldn't help but believe her when she said that four of us were going to die by the end of our journey.

"Ohmygod…We're gonna die. _We're gonna die!"_ Amith clutched desperately at Daquir's shoulder, falling back into his open embrace with the swoon of a falling star.

"We're not discussing this now. We're just not. We have a job to do-let's go _do_ it. Once we've rescued Deckard Cain from Tristram, then we can cry and scream and freak out. Everyone get up, and move. _Right Now._"

Raverto had woken up the leader of our group today, and he filled the slot with his epic size and booming, relentless voice. We followed his commands, pulling ourselves together with the frays of self-security we still held in our hearts.

Sucking in a deep breath, I turned to Breeya, who was still huddling away from us in scared wonder of our reactions, and gave her an encouraging smile that I hoped didn't look too much like a grimace of pain. She flashed me a tentative smile back, and I realized that I had given her some hope in this ever-changing, bloody world, a single shred of hope that even though we were faced with the possibility of death, we would pull through.

Smiles were passed around, laughter shoved down throats, and we feigned perfect happiness for the sake of the young girl we had just almost permanently added to our band of warriors. We wiped off our tears, picked up our weapons, dusted off our shoulders of each other's imprints and carried on our ways. We traversed the bloody plains of the carnage we left behind in our previous ventures, and encountered very few other monsters on our way to the underground tunnels Breeya led us to.

The opening in the mountain wall wept with blood, and it smelt even worse than the Den of Evil had. Only now we allowed ourselves to grimace, and even then it was in a comic, joking sort of way. Standing at the entrance to this surefire hellhole, I waited back while the others went in. I wondered what awaited us inside its hallowed halls-and I couldn't help but wonder if today was the day one of us would die.

But still we stumbled on towards Tristram.


End file.
